"It’s just plain wrong to make our seniors, our parents and grandparents choose between buying prescription drugs or putting food on the table," state Rep.

Saturday, September 02, 2000

"It’s just plain wrong to make our seniors, our parents and grandparents choose between buying prescription drugs or putting food on the table," state Rep. Rob Leighton (DFL-Austin) said Monday.

Leighton said he first learned how bad it really was for seniors six years ago, when he ran for his first term in the Minnesota House.

Wherever the candidate went door knocking, residents complained of the high prices of prescription drugs.

In three terms in the Legislature, Leighton said measures he has authored or co-authored to help solve the problem have been negated by the Republican opposition or, worse yet, a veto from the governor: first, Arne Carlson and now, Jesse Ventura.

Today, the high cost of prescription drugs has become the main issue of the 2000 election year.

And, the victims’ stories are growing both in their quantity and their claims.

According to Mike Hatch, Minnesota Attorney General, there is a Minnesotan who is eating dog food because she cannot afford other food due to the high price of her prescription drugs.

Hatch told that story Monday afternoon when a delegation of DFLers visited Austin to pitch a legislative proposal for solving a part of the prescription drug problem in Minnesota.

Mary Kittleson, Mower County senior advocate, brought a group of seniors with her to the news conference at the Austin Municipal Airport.

With the assistance of state Sen. Pat Piper (DFL-Austin), the DFL delegation was made to listen to the stories of how local seniors are dealing with outrageously priced prescription drugs.

One of them was Bob Drew.

When Drew’s monthly Social Security check saw the latest cost-of-living adjustment, it put him over the maximum amount allowed by his insurance plan.

"Now, I have to pay all of my prescription expenses and that’s $90 for an inhaler – I’ve got emphysema and asthma real bad – and I take pills that cost $250 a month," Drew said.

"Congress should have known that when they authorized the increase. Now, I’m stuck with it," Drew said.

Even participating in the Minnesota Senior Drug Plan didn’t protect him from escalating prescription drug prices.

On that point, Leighton agreed with Drew.

"This is not a case where there is one cure-all or one fix for the problem," Leighton said. "It’s a federal and a state issue and both need to be addressed."

Another senior, a woman who is not yet 65 and therefore not eligible for Medicare, thought participating in the Minnesota Comprehensive Plan would be the answer to her financial woes when it came to purchasing expensive drugs needed for high blood pressure and other medical problems.

It didn’t happen and when she considered participating in a state program, she learned it could not happen for four months during which she would have to go without coverage.

A Rose Creek couple are in similar straits. The husband needs five different drugs for congestive heart problems.

"Everything keeps going up and we can’t keep up with it," he said and showed his prescription for Zestril, Cudura, Coumaden, Furosenide and Lomoxin. "I need everyone of these and it’s been a real struggle for the wife and I to afford them."

However, there is one skeptic that anyone can solve the problem and that is Don Majerus of Austin, who suffers congestive heart failure.

Majerus said he lives on Social Security and that after paying hospitalization bills and prescription drugs, "I don’t have any of my savings left."

He also said he is skeptical that a Minnesotan would have to eat dog food in order to pay her medical expenses.

"I can’t believe that would happen in Minnesota," he said. "Not today, when they have free meals for the poor and are giving away food to the hungry as well as food stamps."

The claims keep the fires of skepticism burning bright in his mind.

Majerus said all of the rhetoric coming from politics is bewildering to him.

"I don’t know who is telling the truth." he said.